Ullman Long Beach Race Week - Day 1
by Long Beach Race Week 24 Jun 2023 15:14 NZST
June 23-25, 2023
Ullman Long Beach Race Week - Day 1 © Lisa Bronitt
Racing was tight across all fleets in perfect conditions for day 1 Long Beach Race Week. John Busch, LBYC Staff Commodore and PRO on Course Charlie (inside course), commented, "Day 1 was awesome, Long Beach's weather showed up today - towards the end of the day, we had about 20+knots on our racecourse and all the boats behaved pretty well! The Random Leg took the fleet up to Pt. Fermin and back - they looked like they had a good beat up and a really nice run down. There were a few spicy moments for the Melges 15 fleet with a few wipeouts but they got it back together; same with the Viper 640s but everybody got home okay. It was a really fun day on the water."
Some 80 boats racing in eleven divisions including eight one design classes and three PHRF fleets were on the start for the 18th edition of Long Beach Race Week (LBRW). The first gun sounded at 1pm in approximately seven knots from 225 degrees, the breeze built steadily throughout the afternoon to the high teens on the outside course and shifting right to 240-245 degrees.
"We're trying to blend some of the One Design boats into PHRF fleets and it's been a super success, making the PHRF fleets stronger with some of the One Design J-Boats coming in and racing," Bruce Cooper, owner of Ullman Sails Newport Beach and event lead sponsor commented. "I raced with Fuzzy Logic last year in the One Design fleet and had great success finishing second. It's fun to be at the front end of the PHRF fleet this year with the same boat and crew."
Sailing with his dad Doug Jorgensen, owner of the J/111 Picosa, Jack Jorgensen and the Picosa crew are sitting in first place in PHRF A with three points and taking a bullet in race 1. In second with five points is Jim Bailey (NHYC) on his OD35 Destroyer and last year's winner in class, and in third is Marc McMorris (SDYC) on his Cape 31 M2 with seven points. Picosa has competed at LBRW every year the event has been sailed since 2016.
"We had a really great day, the racing was really tight in a pretty diverse fleet of boats - we have the Cape 31s who plane and we can't really plane - a lot of these boats have different strengths and different wind conditions so we were happy to sail well today, it should be a fun rest of the week and we shall see what happens," Jack Jorgensen said. "We focused on staying in clear air and not being able to go nearly as fast downwind as the Capes, so we just sailed in our lane, sailed clear and kept the boat moving, we kept it simple. I'm from Long Beach and just happy to be out there; I love this event."
George Scheel (SDYC) on the J/105 Sun Puffin, took two bullets to lead the PHRF B fleet, with the J/105 Off the Porch helmed by Scott McDaniel (SIBYC) in second with four points, and the J/109 Fuzzy Logic, helmed by Jeff Shew (LBYC) in third with six points.
"We are not used to super winds in San Diego so to come up here to the incredible breeze outside the breakwater today, it was just a beautiful day," Scheel said. "We love coming up here, we did the transit up from San Diego Wednesday night and what we really love, and why we come up here, is that everybody at the two yacht clubs - Long Beach and Alamitos Bay - are so welcoming, so wonderful and so organized - to be able to come in on the long dock and have everybody welcome you, it's wonderful. The race committee is organized, the committee boats are organized - we can't thank everyone enough."
On the Random Leg course, Dan Murphy (CYC) helming his J/125 Javelin had a great race in just his second LBRW event and sits in first in PHRF RL with one point. Dale Williams/Chris Raab (StFYC) sailing the J/105 Swordfish are in second, and Craig Steele on the SC37 Tiburon is in third.
"We had a great start, we got out in front of everybody and it was our wind," Murphy said with a large smile. "On the way back, it was 16-18 knots and the J/125 goes really well downwind in that kind of breeze. I've only had the boat for two years and we didn't do so well last year so we've been getting to know the boat. The Random Leg course option was what I loved about coming down here last year. We do our local buoy races and I just love being in Long Beach and the random course - having to deal with all of the obstacles - the oil platforms etc. It's a great environment, the wind is always great and there was no disappointment today!"
Results for all classes are here.
On Saturday, Day 2, the first race warning will sound at 11:55 AM. Conditions permitting, it is expected that three races will be sailed in most classes on Saturday.
Long Beach Race Week (LBRW) is hosted by the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) and the Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC). LBRW is open to multiple classes and this year is proud to host the Catalina 37 National Championship, the Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championship, the Viper 640 Pacific Coast Championship, and the J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109, and J/120 Southern California High Point Series. Competing for the first time is the Melges 15 class, and the event is thrilled to have them on board.
The event is grateful to the generosity and support of its 2023 sponsors including Ullman Sails, Evans, Clarke Marine Insurance, Cabrillo Boat Shop, The Oriana Shea Group, Tom Walker Photography, Pirates Lair, Durant Design and Construction, and Mount Gay Rum.
The parties will be hosted by LBYC on Saturday and Sunday night. Prize giving will be held at LBYC on Sunday at 5:00 PM. Competitors are invited to enjoy both the clubs' services and amenities including the ice machine, and free water taxi service between the clubs until 9:00 PM Saturday. For full details on entry, schedule, mooring requests and more, go to www.lbrw.org.